England victims of Euro success

England stand to lose as many as 25 players for next month's World Cup dress rehearsal in South Africa because of their clubs' success in Europe.

Ironically, the Anglo-French boycott will start too late to save head coach Brian Ashton calculating the precise number of lost personnel for the opening Test in Bloemfontein on May 26.

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For once, the problem will have nothing to do with politics, just end-of-season congestion aggravated by the concertina-effect of World Cup year.

With the European Cup final booked for Twickenham on May 20, the only issue for Ashton is not who misses the first skirmish against the Springboks but how many.

He will be without more than a complete team should Wasps and Leicester qualify for the first all-English final unless Llanelli leave the Tigers free to concentrate on national affairs by adding them to the mighty list of Scarlet conquests.

Wasps being odds-on to win their semi-final against Northampton, Ashton will be resigned to losing ten of their players who have all played for England within the last 12 months - James Haskell, Josh Lewsey, Tom Palmer, Tom Rees, Paul Sackey, Simon Shaw, Mark van Gisbergen, Phil Vickery, Tom Voyce and Joe Worsley.

If Bath win their Challenge Cup semi-final at Saracens next week, Ashton can add six more to his list of absentees for Bloemfontein - Steve Borthwick, Danny Grewcock, Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Olly Barkley and Michael Lipman.

The complications, caused by the earlier scheduling of tours to accommodate the World Cup in September, will raise further questions over the practicality of a Test schedule which sends Wales and Ireland to the Southern Hemisphere for matches against World Cup opponents in Australia and Argentina respectively.

England, whose World Cup fate rests on beating South Africa in Paris in September, leave for South Africa on May 15.

They will wait for the dust to settle on the semi-finals of both club tournaments before finalising their squad and deciding how many reinforcements will be flown out for the second Springbok Test, in Pretoria on June 2.

England's much-maligned Premiership clubs issued a constructively dignified response yesterday to the tirade unleashed upon them and their French confreres by International Board chairman Syd Millar who condemned their joint boycott of next season's competition as "an absolute disgrace".

"Now is not a time for accusation," Premier Rugby Ltd said in a statement. "It should be a time for urgent discussion on how to resolve differences and should involve all the parties.

"We support a new European competition inclusive of all countries and under IRB governance which reflects the interests of all parties.

"It is encouraging from Monday's statement that the IRB wants the voice of clubs in all counrties to be heard and listened to within the system."

In a new initiative aimed at salvaging a version of the Heineken Cup despite their decision to join the French boycott, the English clubs have written to Millar at Board headquarters in Dublin requesting a meeting with the RFU, the French Rugby Federation and the French clubs.

It raises the intriguing prospect of Millar sitting at the same negotiating table as Serge Blanco, the president of Ligue Nationale de Rugby whom the old Irish Lion lambasted for "destroying" Europe's foremost club tournament. Wasps chief executive David Davies interpreted the outburst as "just a tantrum from one of the grandfathers of the game".

"I still think we will have a European competition with all six nations involved and I think it will have the backing of the International Board," Davies said.

"Given that the other Unions agreed with the negotiated agreement we came up with last October, it's rich for anyone to criticise us for holding our own Union to account. We all need to take a few deep breaths and discuss this behind closer doors."

Marcos Ayerza, Leicester's Argentinian prop, will miss Saturday's Anglo-Welsh Cup final against the Ospreys at Twickenham and the European Cup semi-final against Llanelli after being found guilty of punching Stade Francais flanker Remy Martin at Welford Road ten days ago.

The three-week ban imposed by a European Rugby Cup tribunal means he cannot play again until April 30, missing Leicester's last match of the regular Premiership at home to Wasps as well as the two major ties against Welsh opponents. Leicester had imposed their own eight-day suspension on Ayerza last weekend after an internal inquiry.

Irish referees have been put in charge of the Heineken Cup semi-finals. Alain Rolland will handle Leicester's match against Llanelli at the Walker's Stadium on April 21 with Alan Lewis in the middle for Wasps-Northampton at Coventry the following day.

England's Dave Pearson will referee the Clermont Auvergne-Newport Dragons European Challenge Cup semi-final and Welshman Nigel Owens the Saracens-Bath tie at Vicarage Road on the same weekend.